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Events for September 2009
Tuesday Sep 1, 7PM @ Red Emma's : Jeff Perry // Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism
In his recent work, Jeff perry chronicles the life of Hubert Harrison, (1883-1927) an immensely skilled writer, orator, educator, critic, and political activist who, more than any other political leader of his era, combined class consciousness and anti-white-supremacist race consciousness into a coherent political radicalism. The St. Croix, Virgin Islands-born and Harlem-based Harrison profoundly influenced "New Negro" militants, including A. Phillip Randolph and Marcus Garvey, and his synthesis of class and race issues is a key unifying link between the two great trends of the Black Liberation Movement: the labor- and civil-rights-based work of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the race and nationalist work associated with Malcolm X.
A self-described, "radical internationalist," he was also a highly praised journalist and critic (reportedly the first regular Black book reviewer), a postal labor unionist, a union organizer (with both the Hotel Workers and the Pullman Porters), an IWW supporter, a speaker at the 1913 Paterson strike, a freethinker and early proponent of birth control, a supporter of Black writers and artists, a leading community-based public intellectual, and a bibliophile who helped transform the 135th Street Public Library into an international center for research in Black culture (known today as the world-famous Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture). His biography offers profound insights on race, class, religion, immigration, war, democracy, and social change in America.
Join Red Emma's with author, Jeff Perry, for a unique event as he presents a fascinating slideshow based on his recent biography of Harrison.
Thursday Sep 3, 7PM @ Red Emma's : Riot Folk is at it again! (Ryan Harvey, Mark Gunnery and Nomi!)
Oh yea, that's right, come join Red Emma's for the radical, magical kickassery that is Riot Folk! Ryan Harvey and Mark Gunnery, Baltimore's own political troubadours, are joined by Nomi, west-coast guitar weilder joined by a mystery accordian! There could be dog barking, there may be whistling, there most likely will be foot tapping. Come get caffeinated and riled up!
NOMI
Writer of beautiful songs on tour from Berekely, CA.
(myspace.com/nomisongs)
MARK GUNNERY
Riot-Folky doing songs from his new electro-folk album.. yeah, Electro folk.
(www.riotfolk.org)
RYAN HARVEY
Politically-charged folk music from Baltimore.
(www.riotfolk.org)
Sunday Sep 6, 4PM @ Red Emma's : Tennessee Reed // Spell Albuquerque: Memoirs of a "Difficult" Student
"I'm not like them," Tennessee Reed would tell her teachers. Diagnosed at an early age with several language-based learning disorders, the experts agreed, Tennessee would never read nor write. But despite an educational and medical system which prophesied her failure, Tennessee published her first poetry collection, Circus in the Sky (I. Reed Books, 1988) at the age of eleven. By the time she was a teenager, composers Meredith Monk and Carman Moore had set Tennessee's poetry to music, and she traveled the world, sharing her gift.
In her recently published memoir, Spell Albuquerque, Tennessee exposes an educational system intent on labeling those who think differently as stupid, crazy or lazy. A system so inflexibly racist, dropout rates amongst Hispanic and Black teenagers continue to rise at an unprecedented rate. Her stories are sometimes shocking, at other times hopeful, and the occasional heroic figure does emerge: an outstanding teacher, creative educational administrators, and Tennessee herself, whose audacity and resolve is nothing short of inspirational.
Please join us at Red Emma's with author Tennessee Reed so you can hear her story for yourself!
Wednesday Sep 9, 7PM @ Red Emma's : CANCELLED! Franco "Bifo" Berardi
Folks, we're sorry to announce that Franco BIFO Berardi has had to cancel tonight's event in Baltimore due to illness. He sends his regrets to all of his Baltimore comrades, and hopes to visit us again in the future! Be sure to check out his two new books in the store, Ethereal Shadows and Precarious Rhapsody!
Thursday Sep 10, 7PM @ Red Emma's : Uri Gordon presents "Anarchy Alive!"
We're exceptionally happy to welcome Uri Gordon to Red Emma's --- he's one of our favorite anticapitalist antiauthoritarian activist scholars, currently teaching Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian students at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, and touring the US for the first time to discuss his 2008 book, Anarchy Alive! Antiauthoritarian Politics from Practice to Theory , which we've found to be one of the most clear-headed analyses of the potentials and pitfalls of anarchist organizing in recent memory. We've asked Uri in his presentation to concentrate especially on the parts of the book dealing with the Israeli occupation of Palestine from an anarchist perspective --- looking in the long term towards what we might call the "No State" solution, while organizing pragmatically alongside the people of Palestine, in organizations like Anarchists Against the Wall. So come out both for what promises to be an exceptionally lucid introduction to anarchist politics, as well as a unique take on the struggle to free Palestine!
Thursday Sep 17, 8PM @ Red Emma's : Film Screening: Committing Poetry in Times of War
"Committing Poetry in Times of War follows Youth Poetry Slam Tram coach Bill Nevins firing as a teacher, and the silencing of his outspoken High School Poetry Team. Peaceful protesters demonstrating nearby were brutally assaulted by police as free speech zones were enforced at gunpoint. The fabric of the Constitution was crumbling. Yet out of this fire arose a diverse community of musicians and poets. Dubbed Poetic Justic, its 'blood pounding' slam poetry was a testament to our creative spirit representing a path toward transformation and hope."
Join us with Eric Sirotkin, longtime National Lawyer's Guild member and one of the producers of Committing Poetry in Times of War for coffee, film and conversation.
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